Banana Bread Pudding Cake with Vanilla Caramel Glaze

Alright, what is a peanut allergic person doing reviewing Averie Sunshine’s book Peanut Butter Comfort? First off I’m not so allergic, I can work with it (I can’t ingest it, I basically turn into a puffer fish and my tongue swells—super attractive). Good thing for me, because my family loves PB. So along with that and being friends with Averie—yes, I had to review this.

I made several recipes, all as is, then of course, I tweaked it by subsituting the peanut butter for almond butter. No surprise both versions were good—which is a testimony to how solid the recipes are.

The recipe you see here today was one I chose because banana bread is a favorite in my home. My family can’t seem to get enough of it. And I am always on the hunt for a new banana bread recipe. This one did not disappoint. The peanut butter version is something new to my family—they loved it. The little guy drizzled honey on his and his cousin—she couldn’t get enough it. She patiently sat and watched me shoot this, just so she could take home the left overs.

As for me, I had to make it without the peanut butter just to see what the pudding mix would do in a banana bread recipe. Sure, you can make it without the mix, but as she says in the book “. . .it makes the recipe”. And yes, I actually made this three times: one as is, second time around with no PB, and third time with no PB and pudding—I think it’s fair to say, this one will be working its way into the family recipe box.

With all that said, let’s do this book review:

By the numbers:

Over 100 recipes

Average prep time per recipe: 25 minutes

Approximate book cost: $17.95

What I liked and you might too:

Yes, I’m allergic to peanuts (not so much I can’t work with it), so I’ve adapted some of the recipes by omitting it completely or by substituting it with almond butter, Nutella or cookie butter and the recipes work fine.

Easy recipes with lots of helpful hints and notes for ease of prepping and success. Along with that Averie has a whole primer chapter about key ingredients, methods, tips and tricks.

As always, read the headnotes—it’s where you find out about the author, which is nice. Otherwise it’s just a book of recipes without any story—and that is just boring.

A few of my favorite recipes:

Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes with Caramelized Bananas Peanut Butter Maple Syrup. Admittedly, I made mine with almond butter, but my little guy has always loved bananas and PB, so I first made these as they were intended and now it’s his favorite pancake breakfast.

Rice Krispy and Peanut Butter Cup Brownies. Okay, I made this as is for some neighbors and they thought it was genius. Which of course, solidified the fact that this is the next recipe I will be making with a few change-ups—stay tuned.

Molasses Ginger Bread Cookie. If you are a regular reader than you know my little guy loves cookies, but without chocolate and without my usual heavy-handed extras. This was his favorite, no surprise since he loves the flavor of the fall spices and the cookies are “awesomely chewy”. As for me, my version was with almond butter and yes, it’s “awesomely” chewy.

Nutella and Oreo Chocolate Cookies. I can’t speak towards how they are, but my friends will tell you it’s one to repeat.

Instructions

To make banana bread pudding cake:

Preparation: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9 pan with foil.

Melt butter in a large microwave safe bowl, about 60-90 seconds on high power. Add peanut butter to the melted butter and heat for an additional 20 sends on high power to melt. Stir the mixture until combined and smooth.

Add the sugars and whisk to combine. Add the egg, sour cream (or Greek style yogurt), and vanilla and whisk until smooth and free from streaks. Add bananas and stir to incorporate. Add the pudding mix and stir to incorporate (do not make pudding as instructed on the box). Add flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until just combined and free of streaks.

Pour bater into prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, or until top is golden, set in the middle and edges have slightly pulled away form the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cook in pan for at least 20 minutes before removing, serving or glazing Vanilla Caramel Glaze.

To make vanilla caramel glaze

(this is a fast-moving recipe, so have everything in place)

Place butter in a small pan over medium-heat to melt. Add the brown sugar to the melted butter and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Allow mixture to boil rapidly for 2 minutes, stirring continuously.

Remove pan from heat and add cream (the mixture will bubble wildly), whisk to combine and until bubbles subside. Add vanilla and whisk to combine. Add confectioner sugar 1/2 cup at a time until desired glaze consistency is reached.

Pour glaze on top, using a off-set spatula warmed with hot water and dried off spread glaze to an even finish. Place chocolate in a plastic bags and cut the corner off of one end. Drizzle top with melted chocolate. (Glaze will set and become slightly crystallized. To cut without putting cracks through the top, warm edge of knife with hot water and wipe dry then slice).